Amiga Music Preservation -

Interview

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`qb ,dP'

TLb. ,dMP' all rite, now you get the chance to read

TML.dMMP some facts about some of the major amiga

,nmm`XXMPX musicians. read about their history in

,#MP'~~XNXYNXTb. the scene and their plans in future.yes,

,d~' dNNP `YNTb. that's meant to be read while listening to

,~ ,NN' `YNb their modules. read 'em over and over and over..

dNP `Yb.

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Handle:

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Group:

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Date of birth:

1-How did your interest for computers start? Which year was that?

I´ve been interested in computers ever since I can remember. I started
with a C16 Plus 4 and a few games. When all of my friends got a C64 it
took me about half a year to afford one myself. :) That was the most
impressing part of my computer life for me. It became clear that
creating something new like a game was much more interesting than
playing a game after I had seen what was possible with a computer. Of
course there were certain games and products which influenced me.
Turrican and Katakis were some of my favourites and they inspired me
greatly not just because of the graphics but of the music by Chris
Huelsbeck. Within that period I found a few friends who were interested
in the same - creating, not gaming - and we joined to make a game for
C64. In that time my position was more the one of a graphician. Sadly
the game was never finished. Later on, on the amiga, I got in touch with
the demo scene for the first time. The legendary Amiga Joker got me hot
when I saw the demos mentioned there. It was the time when Mallander
software (damn cutthroats) sold demos. The first reaL demo I saw was
Hardwired by crionics, then Sanity W.o.C demo and 3D demo II by Anarchy.
I was quite impressed by what those people did and they were some kind
of idols for me because I didn´t know how they did it.
After RSI demomaker was released, I searched for a possibility to make
music myself and got to know sountracker 1.0. that was the times when I
tried and started composing....

2-What machines did you previously have? What did you do with them?

Short answer: C16 Plus 4, C64, Amiga, PC

3-For what specific reason did you end up making music rather than gfx, coding?

HEHE, I do graphics and I code. but not as good as D4S, Jar and Fyzix do :))
So I let them do the job. Besides I was the one who was most fascinated
by Soundtracker, Pro Tracker and lateron Fasttracker II although Fyzix
had a much better musical education than me. I hope he will be doing
more music as it seems to be one essential part of his life.

4-Which composing programs have you been using? Which one in particular?

OK, I tried to use 'Power Music editor' on C64 for quite a while. But I
didnt´t get the trick. Then I got to know Chris Huelsbeck and TFMX. But
I wasn´t really able to get that program. The first tracker I really got
productive with was soundtracker on amiga. The Protracker and finally
Fasttracker II. I loved FT2 and did most of my work with it. Even today
I feel at home when I execute ft2.exe. Then netpoet/park, who I met at
Mekka 2002 introduced me to reason. First I didn´t understand the
software and was too lazy to learn it as I had a lot of work in my job.
From then on I knew that FT2 was no more state of the art and that I
had to do technically advanced music. I gave Madtracker II a try and
started a coproduction with netpoet/park but I hated the f**king pattern
latency that was not present in ft2 and impeded my tries to get the
right beat. It was awful. After that, the shortest contact with a music
program was with renoise. It had all, ft2 lacked and was quite
promising. But then netpoet gave me a nice lesson in reason and I
understood the basics. That was the most important turn. Today I compose
music with reason... at least I try to. My goal is using Cubase as there
seems to be no more powerful music software. If anyone asks me to do an
xm or mod - no problem - but I definitely want to go on....

5-With which module did you feel you had reached your goal?

I haven´t reached my goal yet. Even nowadays there are composers that I
feel impossible to supersede. I think Chris Huelsbeck is at this time
pretty f**ked up as he does more dance/trance than I like. It is easy to
make some BOOM BOOM that sounds good and I have done that already at
home.... never released it.
I hope that I will never reach my goal concerning music as learning
about music is what makes me want to do music.

6-Is there a tune you would like not to remember? For what reason?

It is "If there´s no god". I cannot really identify with that song. It
is not mine...
Not because of the quality or techniques... It´s just not what I feel a
musicaian should do :))

7-In your opinion, what's the value of a music in a demo, game?

Music has a very big importance within both a demo and a game. Together
with graphics and code it defines a certain atmosphere which would not
appear if there were mere soundFX. Without music any production is just
a cripple. I do not want to imagine "Fury of the furries" , "Hardwired
(Amiga)", "Flashback (Amiga)" or "Turrican (C64)" without any music. It
does not need to be technically advanced but must add some atmosphere to
an existing production. A nice example is "Dune II" on Amiga. The music
consisted of 6 or 7 tones but created an atmosphere that really hit the
spot. Nothing else could have done it better than those few tones.

8-At present, are you still composing? For professional or leisure purposes?

Yes, generally I am still composing. I just need a break. At the moment
I have lots of work to do and don´t really enjoy making music but I hope
that I will have more time by the end of the year. I certainly will
never stop composing as music is one essential part of my life.

9-What do you think of today's pieces of music such as mpeg,wave,midi,etc...?

Midi is what I try to forget. It´s the essence of a coder doing what
musicians should do.... It is modular, it´s optimized, it is synthetic.
I hate it.
Mpeg is compressed... loss of quality. You compose and throw half of
your product away. sometimes you need to hear the smoth background tones
to fully appreciate a nice piece as such. I do not want to give any
listener the possibility to spoil my product by compressing it.
Wave is the future. Programs creating waves have many more possibilities
to satisfy a composer. You can do what you want. It´s the principle of
"WYSIWYG - What you see is what you get". It represents the uncompressed
source of musical inspiration

10-Could you tell us some of your all times favourite tunes?

For sure! First of all I want to mention "Elektrik funk" by moby! This
guy really gave a turn to music evolution back in the past. When
everything seemed to turn into techno he came and gave us the funk.
Thanks, man! He showed me that 4-channel music can be even better than
anything done with cubase or reason. Elektrik funk is a milestone for
me. still today.
i´ve got the devil in me !
keep funkin´
tekno is shit !
let the groove in !
Also the other tunes by moby gave me the kicks. All of the "Fury of the
furries" tunes were nicely done. atmospheric and fitting the game.
Other ones I really like were the tracks of "audiomoster" raphael gesqua
(or how do you write that again?). He gave me the orchstral touch I
needed. The "Flashback" tunes were some I try to imitate still today
especially the options.mod, journal.mod, missions2.mod and holocube.mod.
As well as the ones done by moby I cannot forget about them.
Next one to remeber should be "2nd reality" by Purple motion... a
mixture between orchestra and electronic. I loved that one.. and "When
heavens fall".....
Jester / Sanity -> "roots", "Rage is relentless.mod" -> wow!
Heatbeat -> Hardwired + fullmoon demo music,
matt+nuke / anarchy -> 3D demo II,
jogeir liljedahl,
Ben Daglish,
Martin Galway,
Reyn Ouwehand,
There are so many... I can´t remember them all by now.

11-Are you planning to make an audio cd with some of your music remastered?

I´ve already done that. "Deload - getting started" was the first CD
though it was never released. I used it as demo CD for Ikarion - my
first try to do professional music - Sadly the firm went bankrupt before
I could do any music. BUT(T).... As soon as I finish some more tunes I
plan to make a CD release... *whoops I am drunk* -> vina arisabel, rioja
2001

12-What bands are you currently listenning to?

One of my all time favourites is van Halen. Eddy rocks! I tried a few
pieces by him on the guitar but even the easiest are too much for me
right now. *hick*.... *hick*.
Deep Purple really kick asssss. ok, 70s music but still nice. I´ve seen
them playing "smoke on the water" lately (6 months ago). the audience
went wacko! can you tell me anyone else who made that work after 30 years?
simply red, Lenny Kravitz... I like rock... ok? :))

13-What does/did the amiga/c64 scene give you?

As *hick* mentioned above *hick* it gave me the basics. I love sid
tunes. *hick* I love the old demos. I LOVE BUBBLE BOBBLE! Soundtracker,
Pro tracker, hgnnnnnwlllldrfwwwwwwwf

14-Are you still active in the scene these days?

Told You aaaa-bove. ´hope t cum back as soon as I have the time. By XMAS
I wil haavve...
the... time.

15-Anyone to greet? Anything left to say? Feel free...

Oh yes! It´s my former girlfriend. We parted today. I love her very much
and it drives me crazy that I cannot be with her. netpoet´s little
sister. There´s never been any person I trusted but her..........
sorry...... gotta go. Kleines Kätzchen.

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please note: this interview is ©opyrighted in 2002 by crown of cryptoburners
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